In the Company of Thieves

This collection by the late Baker (1952%E2%80%932010) brings together five previously published tales of trans-temporal tampering by the cyborgs of the far-future Company and their human precursors, along with an original collaboration between Baker and her sister, Kathleen Bartholomew. In "The Carpet Beds of Sutro Park," Baker sketches a portrait of an autistic operative's wistful relationship to a San Francisco shrine and its human guardian. The Nebula-winning "The Women of Nell Gwynne's" details the workings of a Victorian brothel that conceals an intelligence service. With each story, Baker effectively places her characters within the tides of history and emotion. A costumed car chase after a missing diamond in 1930s Hollywood ("Rude Mechanicals") and a con man escaping justice on the back of a giant enraged rooster ("Mother Aegypt") provide madcap contrast to the longing of exiles both mortal and immortal, who remember home but cannot return. (Nov.)